Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
will monetized cosmetics ruin visual progression?
Anastaru
Member
It seems to be happening in every single MMO. There's no sense of awe when you see someone with an amazing gear set or outfit because you can now just buy skins and outfits from every in-game shop. It's foolish to have the ability to purchase "outfits" or other pieces of cosmetic gear in a game where immersion is supposed to be extremely important. I really want this game to take the correct path, monetized cosmetics are not the correct path. I would argue, cosmetic purchases are extremely destructive, especially to a game of this caliber. The way your character looks in the game is supposed to give you and others a sense of how powerful or accomplished they are. It tells a story. Let's use "Thunderfury" for example, I'm sure a lot of people know what this is. If you saw somebody with Thunderfury in 2006 it was extremely impressive. Another example, pvp gear in WoW. Whether it was classic vanilla pvp gear you got from ranking or arena sets, it was awesome to obtain those set pieces. To put it simply, purchased cosmetics are detrimental to the world as a whole. They are obtained beyond the 4th wall. There is no accomplishment associated with them. You might as well just mesh the outfits with pictures of benjamin franklin dabbing. Intrepid. Come on. Don't fk this up.
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Comments
You should familiarize yourself with the Ashes Wiki ... which can answer many a question.
There's a lot of info there for a game that's still in Alpha.
Cosmetics achievable in-game will be on-par, and in the case of legendary skins, even more elaborate than shop items.[6][7][2]
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Cosmetics
Yours truly has never held the perspective that everyone needs to look like garbage at the start of the game. We're coming from a civilized world wherein the re-settlers of Verra already have histories and lives; only the desperate and down-trodden would be portal-ing to Verra from Sanctus wearing worn-out burlap clothing.
Even for legendary skins, compared to store-bought, we're likely only going from very cool to super cool. And it is most likely entirely a subjective evaluation at that.
At this point, it's just something people will have to accept, or move on to another game really. There are already a ton of cosmetics sold, and a ton more will be made and sold before release, as well as after.
I prefer to have my own signature look that is easily recognizable - similar to Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
Even before transmogs... my Ratonga main in EQ2 only wore starting rags - her gearscore came from her weapon and the Jewelry her Kerran slavemaster crafted for her.
If I want my gear to indicate I'v accomplished something special in my Religion or Social Org or Node or Archetype or Profession, I can still do that in Ashes. I might want to always display those accomplishments via transmog once I achieve them - rather than abandon them just to progress my gearscore.
Steven says that all the player characters in Ashes are already heroes from jump - just for choosing to return to Verra, so... there really aren't any hobos.
While I know what you are talking about here, since you are quick to drop the pedantic hat I feel I should point out - EQ2 didnt have gearscore.
I'm not charmed by the oversized glowy gear, fancy auras and not even by the symbolism of accomplishment from hard to obtain items.
Not a fan of starting in rags either. Simple look, yes. Barely functionally looking items, no.